The Beauty You Never Saw
by moonfaerie326
Summary: Jeanne was to him, what Alec was to her. When someone is right in front of you everyday it gets easy to overlook them.


DISCLAIMER: I do not, in no form whatsoever, own the rights or the characters of NCIS. I dream of it often, but I also dream I am made entirely out of licorice, so we can all see how true those are. XP

**So I hope people enjoy this. It's a little one-shot that I thought up, because well, I have no life, so I think up stuff, and it's usually lame stuff, but I hope it brings people joy nonetheless. **

Jeanne Beniot. She was safe, in a way. With her there was a lack of spark – of fire – and in away it made him feel good. It calmed him, because with no passion, there was no worry, no unexpected turns that would inevitable throw his life off track. He liked that about her, he supposes that that is why his feelings of love were transferred onto her, and he didn't think anything about it at the time.

Ziva David. She was dangerous, a women so different from any others that he had ever met, ever been with. She was a conflicting ball of passion, fury, seduction and so much more. With here there was more than just a spark, there was a catastrophic heat that seemed to affect anyone and anything around them. With her there seemed to be so many twists and turns that there was no end in sight. And he could admit – albeit reluctantly – that it scared him. _She_ scared him. He often wondered if his feelings for her were pushed onto Jeanne because they were opposites in so many ways and with those thoughts brought questions which usually ranged from; How had his feelings for Ziva escaped his knowledge for so long? Why had he accepted Jeanne as his "love" so easily? And the most important question, why, now that he has realized his true feelings, had he not done anything to act upon them?

He could never properly come up with answers to those questions because he was certain that if he had even one answer he wouldn't be stuck in the position he was currently in. If he had his answers he and Ziva could be taking part in more … _exciting_ activities, other than the banter both party's were often willing contenders in. But lately it would seem that Ziva wanted nothing to do with him. She would all but recoil when he would brush up against her, and the usual glint he had become so used to seeing twinkling in her eyes was absent. He hated to admit just how much this hurt him, but hurt him it did. He often found himself striving for the barest hint of her attentions but the harder he tried; the less she seemed to notice. He felt as if he was fading, and it was all because Ziva could barely bring herself to look at him.

It wasn't wrong of her to want nothing to do with him, was it? He did lie to the entire team, to _her, _and he hardly seemed remorseful about it, he merely cracked jokes, and threw his usual paper wads. He only seemed slightly more subdued; almost as if he was contemplating something, but she figured it was thoughts of Jeanne that brought on this change.

She sighed, hating herself for even getting into this situation. If she had never fallen in love with him, she wouldn't have felt this poorly. She needed to move on, but that was hard for her to do when she found herself comparing ever man she came across to Tony. None of them could even compare to him. She soon began to purposefully begin to compare men to Tony, she didn't know what she had hoped this would achieve, but she sure wished something good was going to come from it, for it was causing her a lot of pain to think about someone whom in a way she longed to forget.

Her hopes were answered a few months later when she met _him. _He was six foot, had blond wavy hair – she knew she said she didn't go for blondes, but for some reason she felt she had too – and blue eyes. He was well toned, without having too much muscle, he had a chiseled jaw, and broad shoulders, but most of all, and this was her favorite part; he wasn't Tony. Her chest didn't ache every time she looked at him, because he and Tony were polar opposites. His name was Alec Diodorus; he was Greek, whereas Tony was Italian. Alec was a kindergarten teacher, he didn't brag about his sex life, he hardly watched any TV, and he read, a lot. He didn't have the same passion Tony had, and he certainly didn't make her shudder when he invaded her space. He was safe, and that was what she liked about him. He brought to her a reliable sort of comfort.

Tony watched as Ziva, once again, walked into the bullpen late, and with that extra bounce in her step he'd come to abhor over the past few months. In that time, things had started to return to normal between them except something was different; something was missing. Their flirty banter seemed to lack the flirt, and he missed it more than he thought he would.

"So Zee-vah," He elongated her name, hoping to get a reaction. "Long night?" He questioned, feeling unnaturally wary of what her answer would be.

She smiled, a far away look coming to her eyes and he felt his heart drop at the dreamy sort of look that came to her features. When she answered her voice lacked any of the seductive undertones he had come to relish in the years he had known her. "I suppose you could say that Tony."

"So who is the **lucky** guy?" Tony questioned sarcastically, stressing the word lucky so no one could be mistaken that he meant anything but. He knew he wouldn't get an answer, but he was hoping he could bring that fire to her eyes.

Ziva just stared at him for a moment, a small shake of her head at his childish antics. "Who said it was a man, Tony?" She replied back. She watched as Tony's eyes widened a fraction, and his hands clenched across the papers on his desk, he seemed to be thinking about something, and Ziva chuckled. "Imagining it, are we Tony?"

When Tony didn't answer, he only seemed to get more lost in his fantasies, Ziva responded. "It was a man." She was hoping to burst the bubble he had just built around that fantasy and she watched, with amusement, as it happened.

His eyes narrowed as they focused on her, and he could feel his anger thicken in his veins. "Who, then?" He questioned in a gruff tone.

She wanted to snap at him, question why he needed to know, tell him that it was personal and he had no business snooping around in her personal life. But she didn't, she couldn't, because it would only cause them both to become furious, and that would, in turn, make this a bad day for everyone involved. "His name happens to be Alec Diodorus." He still stared at her for a moment. "And I do believe he felt quite lucky last night." She pushed, yet she didn't know why. She returned her attention to her deskwork, not at all noticing the look that appeared on Tony's face, or the fact that he had frantically scribbled down aforementioned name.

"I didn't know you were one for one-night stands, Zee-vah." Tony stated innocently, his fingers plucking away at the keyboard in front of him in hopes to remain nonchalant. This was his way of weeding out information from one Ziva David.

Ziva rolled her eyes marginally, not even bothering to look away from her work. "I have never said that Tony." She stated simply.

She did not know where it came from or why she acted upon it, but she didn't want to tell Tony that she and Alec had been dating for two months now. She felt like keeping it hidden, a secret. But if she were being even a little bit honest with herself, she would know that part of the reason was that she feared what his reaction would be to the news. If he was happy for her, she didn't know if she would be able to handle it, because then that meant he had never had any feelings for her. If he was jealous, well she'd be upset, because he pushed her away all the times she had tried to tell him –to show him- that she wanted more.

Tony didn't respond he just studied her. He could tell she was hiding something from him, and he was determined to find out what.

"Something's up." Tony murmured, as he watched Ziva pick up her cell phone while walking out of the bullpen. "Shalom," He heard her soft murmur, and he swiveled in his chair to keep her in his sights as she walked towards the window.

"I can't right now." She said quietly into the phone. She laughed softly at whatever the person she was talking to said. "I am at work." She sighed, and if Tony wasn't mistaken it was a dreamy sigh. "Of course I miss you, but I will see you again tonight." A smile graced her lips as she murmured goodbye, and walked back to her desk completely ignorant to the stares that Tony kept casting in her direction.

"Normally you don't talk on the phone to one-night stands, David." He grunted, a glare firmly seated on her.

She looked up, shock written on her expression. "What?"

"Your phone call." He stated, as if it was obvious.

She raised an eyebrow at him, trying to stop the pounding of her heart. "What about my phone call, it was a friend Tony. I am allowed to have friends, am I not?"

"Oh, you're allowed to have friends. I never said that. I just never thought you would lie to me about-" He cut himself off when he saw the searing stare she'd trained on him.

"This is about lying, Tony? _Lying!?_" She huffed, standing up from her desk, her chair flying backwards into the wall behind her. "You would know about lying Tony, yes? And sneaking around?" She made her way to the front of his desk, only to slam her hands down on his desk. "I do not want to hear anything from you about lying Tony." With one last glare in his direction she turned on her heel in a huff. She wanted to do nothing more than turn back around, grab Tony's shirt, and yell at him about all the worry he had caused her, about how much she hurt because of his lies. But she didn't, because she couldn't.

"I guess we _are_ falling apart." He murmured to himself, but she heard him nonetheless.

"What?" She asked hesitantly as she craned her neck to look at his slumped form.

"McGee." He stated, waving his hand in the direction of the other agent. Ziva's gaze followed, training on McGee, traces of confusion in her gaze. McGee shrugged, unsure of where this was going, but he still took it as his queue to slip out of the room. Once McGee retreated completely Ziva turned her attention back to Tony.

"What about McGee?" She couldn't even hide the uncertainty that laced her tone if she wanted to.

"McGee said that we were falling apart, I didn't believe him, I didn't _want_ to believe him. But it's true. I never realized it until now." His voice was sad, and she was still confused.

"The team is falling apart?" She questioned, she wondered how she had missed this, she thought they were all doing fine. What changed, when did it change and most of all why?

"No!" Tony snapped harshly, his eyes flying to hers. He stood up, leaning over his desk so that he was closer to her. "We!" He gestured between himself and her. "Me and you. Ziva and Tony! **We** are falling apart!" He sighed in defeat.

Ziva's gaze softened but her spine stiffened. "We were never together in the first place Tony." She murmured, a bite hidden beneath the softness.

"Don't you think I **know **that!?" Tony questioned, incredulous.

Gibbs chose that exact moment to round the corner of the bullpen, smacking Tony in the back of the head in the process. "Know what, DiNozzo?" He questioned curiously. Wondering what it could be that had his agents so wound up.

"Nothing, boss." Tony sulked, sinking back into his chair, his eyes trained on Ziva. They would finish the conversation, he would make sure of it. "Nothing at all."

The day passed, the tension palpable between the two partners. Tony tried hard to get Ziva alone to finish the conversation, and Ziva tried hard to avoid being alone with Tony.

Tony sat at his desk, waiting, staring, hoping. He was staring at Ziva's desk, waiting for her to come back up from Abby's lab. She'd been there for what felt like hours. The day was over, and they were allowed to go home, but he wanted to talk to her first, to sort things out between them. McGee had left a while ago, Tony didn't mind though; it would make things easier for him.

The elevator dinged, and Tony jumped up, hoping to catch site of Ziva, but emerging from the elevator was Gibbs instead.

"DiNozzo." Gibbs stated surprised. "What are you still doing here? You're usually the first to leave."

"I'm waiting for Ziva, boss. I need to talk to her."

Gibbs gave him a sympathetic look. "She left forever ago, Tony."

Tony was shocked. "But she didn't even come up to grab her stuff boss. I was watching-" He glanced at her desk, and to his dismay her bag was gone. Sighing dejectedly he grabbed his own bag and headed for the elevator head down.

"Hey! DiNozzo." He heard Gibbs call, and he halted waiting. "Good luck."

Tony's lips quirked up. "Thanks boss, I'll need it." As Tony stepped into the elevator he felt lighter, he was going to go get his girl, and he didn't have to worry about breaking rules anymore, because he now had the okay to go for it.

As the elevator doors shut Gibbs couldn't help but to shake his head ruefully. "You're going to need more than well wishes Tony."

She knew he'd be waiting for her to leave, so she snuck away to Abby's lab after begging McGee to bring her bag down to her. She was surprised Tony hadn't noticed, but he was probably to wound up in his own thoughts to notice McGee grabbing her bag.

She dejectedly walked up the stairs to her apartment, her head down as she rummaged for her keys. She stopped a few feet away from her apartment, pulling her keys from her backpack and looking up in one fluid motion. She was surprised to see who was standing there.

"Alec, what are you doing here?" She didn't sound happy to see him, and in all honesty, she wasn't. She felt like crap, and she just wanted to go inside and be alone right now.

"Did you forget I was supposed to stop by?" He questioned, moving towards her. She gave a slight nod as he encroached on her space, but she didn't step back, because his presence didn't intimidate her, or cause her heart to race. "Rough day, Ziva?" He questioned, noticing her rundown look as he tucked a strand of hair beside her.

"Very rough." She intoned, moving past him and pushing her way through the door. She waited in the entryway, but when he made no move to follow her, she sighed before turning around. "Come inside Alec." A tiny grin flitted across his face as he followed her. Before he could even question her about anything she spoke. "I do not want to talk about it. Lets just sit and watch a movie. She placed The Sound Of Music, into the DVD player before sitting on the couch, curling into a ball with a blanket.

Alec slid in next to her, placing his arm around her and pulling her to lay on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, Ziva." He murmured placing a kiss on her temple. He didn't say anything else, and Ziva could already feel her thoughts of Tony leaving her, and the heavy feeling in her heart eased up a bit, but it still felt as if someone was grabbing it.

Before long, Alec had Ziva laughing as he sung along to the music. His voice was gravelly, and off key, but she couldn't help to find it endearing. He knew every word to most of the songs, and it was causing her to chuckle incessantly as he dramatically sung the words to her.

Tony drove to her apartment, ignoring the traffic laws. He suddenly realized why Ziva drove the way she did, it eased your mind and brought in clarity with a little exhilaration.

As soon as he parked, he flew out of the door, barely shutting it and locking it before he was on his way up the steps. He came to a stop outside of her apartment, attempting to catch his breath before he knocked, and that's when he heard it. Laughter. But not just any laughter, Ziva's and he heard a male singing, and he could feel his blood boil within his body. Later he would claim that was what caused him to knock so harshly upon the door.

"Coming!" He heard Ziva call through her laughter, and by the time the door was opened her face was wiped clean of any of her previous amusement. "Tony." She greeted, her body and the door blocking him from pushing his way through the door, and meeting the mystery man that was causing _his_ Ziva to laugh in such away.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, was the phrase that came to mind when he heard footsteps sounding from inside of her apartment. "Ziva who is it?" He heard a voice ask, and his fists clenched. Ziva turned her head to look at whoever was behind the door. Just as she turned, the man inside pulled the door open wider, revealing himself.

"Hi, my names Alec." The man stated, holding out his hand for Tony to grasp. Tony just stared at it as the name processed. Alec. Alec _Diodorus_ he presumed. So he was right, Ziva didn't do one-night stands.

"Tony." Tony stated simply, crossing his arms in front of his chest in a clear sign that this Alec was not welcome.

Alec nodded slightly. "I figured. Ziva talks about you so much that if I were the jealous type I would assume the two of you had something going on." With that stated, Alec placed a hand around Ziva's waist pulling her closer to him.

Tony resisted the growl that wanted to rip past his throat. "Funny." He stated, "Ziva has never once mentioned you."

Ziva's piercing stare burned him, but he didn't care. Alec looked down at the women in his arms. "Ziva?" He questioned.

"They did not need to know Alec." She stated brusquely, not wanting to have this conversation, especially with Tony as an audience. "It is my life."

"And I'm part of it." Alec stated, and Tony could tell he was hurt. He was obviously sensitive, and Tony knew he wasn't a match for Ziva at all. She needed a strong man, someone who could banter with her, who could protect her. Someone like him.

Ziva's form went rigid; this was not what she wanted to deal with tonight. _This_ was why she wanted to be alone. "I think you both should leave." She stated, turning on her heel and walking into her apartment. "Shut the door when you do." She called from the hallway.

Tony pushed passed Alec quickly rushing to her side. "Oh no you don't Ziva. We're going to finish that talk now." He grabbed her arm turning her around to face him, only to have her swing her arm around obviously with the intention of smacking him. She stopped an inch from his face, her glare seated on his form.

"There is nothing to talk about."

"You know damn well that we have something to talk about." He growled out.

Neither noticed as Alec left, giving them some privacy. He may deal with little children all day everyday, but he could see chemistry between adults when it was staring him in the face, and he was not going to get in the way of it, not when it was as strong as it was between these two. His feelings for Ziva be damned, he'd never seen that spark in her eyes before, and he doubted he ever would. She deserved happiness, and he couldn't make her quite as happy as he knew the man in her apartment could.

"Let me go now." Ziva threatened, stepping into his personal space.

"Never." Tony whispered, wrapping his arms around her form and pulling her lips to his in a searing kiss. He half expected her to throw him on the ground and shoot him in the next second. But the reaction he received was much better.

Her lips moved against his in a fluid motion, her tongue pushing past his lips to tangle with his. And the battle had begun. Their tongues tangled, pressed, pulled, and lapped at one another, attempting to gain the upper hand in this show of dominance. Breathing became a necessity, and the both pulled back, panting breaths escaping parted lips.

"Damn you." Ziva whispered after a moment, her lips moving down his jaw towards his neck.

The heat that rose between the two was distinct, the passion there, the fire burning hotter than ever. They never wanted anything else. They had avoided it for too long, and now that the had a sample of what things would be like between them they never wanted to let it go.

END

**ACK, this was fun, but it didn't go quite the way I had planned. I think it still turned out pretty good. What about you? Please review; it would bring some light into my black heart. XP I took the line "I guess we **_**are **_**falling apart" Out of a song. I changed it a tiny bit, but I liked it. 10 points to whoever can guess the song. XD**

**QUESTION: If you could have a super power, what would it be? **

**I would have to say mine would be to stop time, and to go back in time and what not. I would want some other powers mixed in as well, because I can't settle for one, but I'd want the time one, because I could stop time, while I am writing so I can get more done, the way I want it and I wouldn't have to worry about being late to work, or stopping my writing at the good part because I have to leave or get ready. LOL.**

**What about all of you? :]**

**Love Rae.**


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